hyperman
INT'L MOD
They in the past have had a very very conservative export policy as part of their constitution, which was written when they were occupied, which prevented them from exporting offensive weapons and an incredible amount of restrictions that no other country had. And they have essentially been US slaves post WW2.
But there is a realignment happening inside Japan currently, the Post War consensus is collapsing, and we may even see Japan return to pre 1945 Japan. The Chinese have been making aggressive remarks, as much as the US China rivalry is played up, I don't think there is any country China hates more than Japan. East Asia is a powder keg right now. Everyone is preoccupied with the middle east, no one is watching things in the Pacific.
There is a Cold War between Japan and China right now, with China applying all sorts of sanctions on Japan with rare earths and magnets, and the Japanese PM saying Japan would intervene in Taiwan(before walking it back), the whole episode sent China in a frenzy, with the banning of japanese products, and banning Chinese tourist to Japan.
Chinese Foreign Policy people like Victor Gao(who is essentially the unofficial spokesperson for the Chinese foreign policy apparatus in western forums), has said repeatedly, that China will never allow Japan to be in the position to be what it used to be, and that it will never allow Japan to build nukes. Japan is a threshold state currently, sitting on the largest stockpile of enriched Uranium in the world, and complete sovereignty over the nuclear cycle, along with development of delivery systems, but Japan hasn't built it because its under the US umbrella, but what happens if the US pulls back, Japan may go nuclear.
